Protests prompt a state of emergency in Utah
Gov. Gary Herbert of Utah declared a state of emergency in response to protests in Salt Lake City that erupted after authorities said the fatal police shooting of a 22-year-old man in May was justified.
The Salt Lake County district attorney, Sim Gill, announced Thursday that there would be no criminal charges against the two Salt Lake City police officers who shot the man, Bernardo PalaciosCarbajal, on May 23.
After the announcement, protesters who had gathered for weeks in front of the district attorney’s office, part of the nationwide movement against police violence and racism, marched on 500 South, a major street in the downtown area.
Police said the protesters disrupted traffic and broke windows and that officers were sprayed with pepper spray.
The officers tried several times to disperse the protesters, the department said.
The Salt Lake Tribune reported that some demonstrators spilled red paint on the road in front of the district attorney’s office and that others threw bottles at police officers in riot gear.
Officers pushed protesters to the ground and hit them with clubs, and a police car rammed into a protester’s vehicle that was being used as a barricade, the newspaper reported.
At least one officer was injured and at least two people were arrested, police said.
The governor’s order, in effect until midnight Monday, closed the state Capitol building and its grounds to everyone except for employees and officers.
Nathan Morris, a lawyer for the family of Palacios-Carbajal, said in a statement Thursday that in deciding not to press charges, Gill “took upon himself the decision to exonerate the officers at the expense of a fair judicial process, rather than permitting a jury of Bernardo’s peers to decide the fate of the officers.”
Morris said by phone Friday that the family would be filing a wrongful-death lawsuit.
“As a family, we will not stop in our pursuit of justice for Bernardo through all means that are available to us,” he said, reading from the statement, prepared on behalf of the family.
Salt Lake City Mayor Erin Mendenhall said Thursday that the district attorney’s report provided “significant evidence of the justifiable actions” of the officers but that it also was likely to disappoint those who wanted the officers to face charges.
“I know that for some, today’s decision does not feel like justice,” she said in a statement. “It has become increasingly apparent in our city and across the nation that there is a difference between what so many feel is morally correct and what is considered appropriate and justified under the law.”